Isolating language

<h2 id="explanation">Explanation</h2>
Although historically, languages were divided into three basic types (isolating, inflectional, agglutinative), the traditional morphological types can be categorized by two distinct parameters:

<ul><li>morpheme per word ratio (how many morphemes there are per word)</li>
<li>degree of fusion between morphemes (how separable the inflectional morphemes of words are according to units of meaning represented)</li></ul>
A language is said to be more isolating than another if it has a lower morpheme per word ratio.
To illustrate the relationship between words and morphemes, the English term "rice" is a single word, consisting of only one morpheme (rice). This word has a 1:1 morpheme per word ratio. In contrast, "handshakes" is a single word consisting of three morphemes (hand, shake, -s). This word has a 3:1 morpheme per word ratio. On average, words in English have a morpheme per word ratio substantially greater than one.
It is perfectly possible for a language to have one inflectional morpheme yet more than one unit of meaning. For example, the <a href="/facts/Russian_language/ETXrTgHV">Russian</a> word vídyat/видят "they see" has a morpheme per word ratio of 2:1 since it has two morphemes. The root vid-/вид- conveys the imperfective <a href="/facts/Grammatical_aspect/zX9gFXn9">aspect</a> meaning, and the inflectional morpheme -yat/-ят inflects for four units of meaning (third-<a href="/facts/Agreement_(linguistics)/MxF9ErBV">person</a> subject, <a href="/facts/Agreement_(linguistics)/MxF9ErBV">plural</a> subject, present/future <a href="/facts/Grammatical_tense/reLNLa97">tense</a>, indicative <a href="/facts/Grammatical_mood/QS8qwCPm">mood</a>). Effectively, it has four units of meaning in one inseparable morpheme: -yat/-ят.
Languages with a higher tendency toward isolation generally exhibit a morpheme-per-word ratio close to 1:1. In an ideal isolating language, visible morphology would be entirely absent, as words would lack any internal structure in terms of smaller, meaningful units called morphemes. Such a language would not use <a href="/facts/Bound_morphemes/ns61qyu7">bound morphemes</a> like <a href="/facts/Affixes/MKeAIE7e">affixes</a>.
The morpheme-to-word ratio operates on a spectrum, ranging from lower ratios that skew toward the isolating end to higher ratios on the synthetic end of the scale. A larger overall ratio suggests that a language leans more toward being synthetic rather than isolating.
<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a>

<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2>
Some isolating languages include:

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Classical_Chinese/gjCoUEo4">Classical Chinese</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Vietnamese_language/J3Pbx58C">Vietnamese</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Yoruba_language/q5osdFqR">Yoruba</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Khmer_language/RVR7NyzQ">Khmer language</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Thai_language/PnaLdG77">Thai language</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Central_Flores_languages/3aGIDsKG">Central Flores languages</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Malay_trade_and_creole_languages/EfNdoXx8">Malay trade and creole languages</a> of Eastern Indonesia, including:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Ambonese_Malay/vR7Ln2S2">Ambonese Malay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Kupang_Malay/EfNdoXx8">Kupang Malay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Larantuka_Malay/achg7bsl">Larantuka Malay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Manado_Malay/BY9E9xqT">Manado Malay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/North_Moluccan_Malay/gPtY0IQC">North Moluccan Malay</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Papuan_Malay/IThHDocw">Papuan Malay</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a></li></ul></li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Analytic_language/yv6h21yU">Analytic language</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Free_morpheme/ns61qyu7">Free morpheme</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Linguistic_typology/B72Bumgm">Linguistic typology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Synthetic_language/oVDpKynV">Synthetic language</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Zero-marking_language/b1oeu6Nc">Zero-marking language</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>Sapir, Edward (1921). <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/186/6.html">Chapter 6: "Types of linguistic structure"</a>. In <a href="/facts/Language:_An_Introduction_to_the_Study_of_Speech/tIlEN7sV">Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech</a>.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"A Computerized Identification System for Verb Sorting and Arrangement in a Natural Language: Case Study of the Nigerian Yoruba Language" (PDF). eajournals.org. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Computerized-Identification-System-for-Verb-Sorting-and-Arrangement-in-a-Natural-Language-Case-Study-of-the-Nigerian-Yoruba-Language.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Computerized-Identification-System-for-Verb-Sorting-and-Arrangement-in-a-Natural-Language-Case-Study-of-the-Nigerian-Yoruba-Language.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"Analytic language". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">"Isolating Language". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://glossary.sil.org/term/isolating-language" target="_blank">https://glossary.sil.org/term/isolating-language</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">"Analytic language". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Whaley, Lindsay J. (1997). "Chapter 7: Morphemes". Introduction to Typology: The Unity and Diversity of Language. SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN 9780803959620. <a href="9780803959620" target="_blank">9780803959620</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">"Lecture No. 13". bucknell.edu. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/linguistics/lectures/05lect13.html#:~:text=Languages%20that%20have%20no%20affixal,fewer%20affixes%20are%20called%20fusional" target="_blank">https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/linguistics/lectures/05lect13.html#:~:text=Languages%20that%20have%20no%20affixal,fewer%20affixes%20are%20called%20fusional</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">"Morphological Typology" (PDF). studiumdigitale.uni-frankfurt.de. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://moodle.studiumdigitale.uni-frankfurt.de/moodle/pluginfile.php/486924/mod_resource/content/2/Synthetic%20and%20analytic_Morpho_Typo.pdf" target="_blank">https://moodle.studiumdigitale.uni-frankfurt.de/moodle/pluginfile.php/486924/mod_resource/content/2/Synthetic%20and%20analytic_Morpho_Typo.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"Polysynthetic language". Japan Module. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://www.japanpitt.pitt.edu/glossary/polysynthetic-language" target="_blank">https://www.japanpitt.pitt.edu/glossary/polysynthetic-language</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">"Isolating language". Sorosoro. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://www.sorosoro.org/en/2015/09/isolating-language/" target="_blank">https://www.sorosoro.org/en/2015/09/isolating-language/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">"Analytic language". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/topic/analytic-language</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">"Isolating Language". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="https://glossary.sil.org/term/isolating-language" target="_blank">https://glossary.sil.org/term/isolating-language</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">"A Computerized Identification System for Verb Sorting and Arrangement in a Natural Language: Case Study of the Nigerian Yoruba Language" (PDF). eajournals.org. Retrieved 4 April 2023. <a href="http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Computerized-Identification-System-for-Verb-Sorting-and-Arrangement-in-a-Natural-Language-Case-Study-of-the-Nigerian-Yoruba-Language.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Computerized-Identification-System-for-Verb-Sorting-and-Arrangement-in-a-Natural-Language-Case-Study-of-the-Nigerian-Yoruba-Language.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Paauw, Scott H. (2009). The Malay contact varieties of eastern Indonesia: A typological comparison (PDF). The State University of New York at Buffalo. OCLC 6002898562. Retrieved 8 August 2021. <a href="https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dryer/PaauwMalayIndonesia.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dryer/PaauwMalayIndonesia.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Kluge, Angela (2017). A Grammar of Papuan Malay. Studies in Diversity Linguistics 11. Berlin: Language Science Press. p. 22. doi:10.5281/zenodo.376415. ISBN 978-3-944675-86-2. <a href="978-3-944675-86-2" target="_blank">978-3-944675-86-2</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Isolating language open-in-new

Isolating language